Murphy – It was an up and down week for Murphy volleyball.
Despite falling short to Robbinsville in the Smoky Mountain Conference tournament championship (25-21, 23-25, 18-25, 23-25), the Lady Bulldogs were able to get the No. 2 seed in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A playoffs and a first-round matchup with Blue Ridge Early College.
Despite being without senior libero Cailey Dockery, who was on her official visit to Notre Dame, Murphy took care of business, sweeping the Bobcats in three sets 25-15, 25-19, 25-8. The Lady Bulldogs will faced South Stanly in the second round Tuesday, which ended after this week’s edition of the Cherokee Scout went to press.
“It wasn’t pretty, but a win’s a win,” senior middle hitter Torin Rogers said. “We’re ready to move onto the next one.”
After cruising past Hayesville 25-12, 25-13 in the conference tournament semifinals, Murphy just looked off against the Lady Knights, who were the better team for much of the match.
“Our defense was not what it normally was,” Murphy head coach Jordan Lovingood said. “We were letting balls hit the floor that don’t normally hit the floor, we weren’t communicating well and we’re just going to use that loss as a learning experience to get better.”
Even with the loss, Murphy was still seeded ahead of Robbinsville after winning the Big Smoky Mountain Conference regular-season championship. For this year’s playoffs, conference champions – or the highest-finishing 1A team in a split conference as long as it’s higher than third – received the top seeds for the playoffs.
The Lady Bulldogs (20-2 overall) had already swept Blue Ridge (6-9) on Sept. 28, when Dockery was out with a concussion, and didn’t have much trouble in this match, either. Murphy was able to get off to a fast start, leading 11-2 in the first set before cruising to a 25-15 win. The Bobcats raised their level of play in the second set, leading 18-17 at one point before Rogers had three kills and two blocks on Murphy’s 8-1 run to close out the set. The Lady Bulldogs dominated the third set, as Blue Ridge wore down and had no answer for Murphy’s hitting.
If the Lady Bulldogs, keep winning, they’re guaranteed to play at home until the 1A West Regional championship.
“We never take home for granted,” Lovingood said. “We haven’t lost here this year, and we know home is a special place to play.”